The composer Eric Whitacre invited his online fans to participate in an ambitious attempt to create the world's largest virtual choir. Featuring 2052 performances from singers in 58 countries, the Virtual Choir 2.0 – singing Whitacre's "Sleep" – is the largest assembled online in history, and far surpasses Whitacre's original goal of 900 voices.
Check out John Hunter talking at the TED conference on solving the world's problems with his fourth grade class… it's entertaining and touching…. and suggests that in the emergent nature of self organizing groups, there is a human capacity for wisdom that is not written in any manual.
In the Jewish tradition, there is a song beloved on Passover. It’s called Dayenu (pronounced DI A NU) and its meaning is that even in the most difficult of times, it is critical that we appreciate what we have – that what has been done for us is sufficient. Loosely translated, dayenu means “it would have been enough.” It is a song sung to God and I remember this song more than others because on Passover, as a child, I sung it with such exuberance, banging my fist on the table and screaming at the top of my lungs, I was asked to leave.
These memories come back to me as I read Bernie Sanders, the son of Jewish immigrants, who also happens to be Vermont’s U.S. Senator. He is an independent and socialist and I suspect others things outside the normal way business is done. If the Senate could ask him to leave, I’m sure they would, because he deals in solutions that nobody wants to hear.
And he has found a way to make dayenu relevant again at the Congressional table, although not in exactly the same way it had originally been intended. He asks the wealthy in America if there is ever going to be enough for them.
He has an ear for rhythm:
In 2007, the top 1% of all income earners in the U.S. made 23.5% of all income.
NOT ENOUGH
The percentage of income going to the top 1% has nearly tripled since the mid-1970’s.
NOT ENOUGH
80% of all new income earned from 1980 to 2005 has gone to the top 1 percent.
NOT ENOUGH
The top 1 percent now owns more wealth than the bottom 90 percent. NOT ENOUGH
Wall Street executives now earn more than they did before the financial bail out of Wall Street firms.
NOT ENOUGH
The United States now has, by far, the most unequal distribution of income and wealth of any major country on earth.
NOT ENOUGH
You see Sanders has the melody so critical to deep understanding. For many at the top there is such a feeling of scarcity and privilege that it can never be enough. Lo Dayenu would be their song – Never Enough.
And so Sanders has proposed solutions, believing if a raggedy group of slaves fleeing through the desert and being attacked from all sides could sing about having enough, then it’s possible that even in the most wealthy country in the world, it might again be possible.
In his speech to the Senate on June 27th, he listed 13 measures that could reduce the deficit without cutting Social Security, Medicare or other programs.
End the tax breaks for oil and gas companies.
AND THERE WOULD STILL BE ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE
Eliminate offshore tax havens, bringing the deficit down by $40 billion over the next decade.
AND THERE WOULD STILL BE ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE
Repeal the Bush-era tax cuts for the top two percent of earners, generating $700 billion.
AND THERE WOULD STILL BE ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE
Establish an estate tax on inherited wealth of more than $3.5 million, raising another $70 billion over a decade.
AND THERE WOULD STILL BE ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE
Shrink military spending and bring the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to an end as soon as possible.
AND THERE WOULD STILL BE ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE
Dayenu is a reminder that to live psychologically with the concept of scarcity is to remain a slave. It must never be used as a justification for social inequality. Rather, it is a call for community, that we are grateful for what we have and most notably for laws that bind us together and make us appreciate ourselves as a community.
"One of the essential qualities of collective wisdom is a palpable sense of connection with each other and to larger forces that is found, for example, in nature, in relationship to our ancestors, and even in relation to a physical place….
People who talk about their experiences of collective wisdom often report a sense of openness and awareness of something larger than themselves. The ability to communicate seems broader, and people are often astounded by the creativity that comes forward.
“You have a sense,” Frenier observed, “that the whole group is creating together, and you don’t quite exactly know how.”
~ The Power of Collective Wisdom: And the Trap of Collective Folly
The following exercise was developed by Marty Kaplan:
Collective Wisdom: Activities for Attunement, Discernment and Calibration
Name: Hula Hoop Activity Number of People: 6-10 Materials Required: Hula Hoop Space Requirements: Sufficient space for 6-10 people to stand in a circle Time Requirements: 25 – 35 minutes
5 minutes set-up
10-15 minutes active problem solving
10-15 minutes discussion
Purpose of Activity:
To heighten awareness about how people in a group need to collaborate in order to accomplish a deceptively simple task
Outcomes:
Insight into communication practices that help and hinder
Insight into the dynamics of concentration and focus in groups
Insight into how a “collective” operates under pressure
Insight into how groups become aware of their interdependence
Detailed Steps:
Ask people to stand and to form into a circle facing each other
Introduce the hula hoop, and tell them that their task will be to lower it to the ground without anyone losing contact with it.
Have them point their index fingers and extend their arms at roughly waist level.
Place the hula hoop on their fingers and get the group to adjust their finger heights until the hoop is horizontal and everyone’s index finger is touching the stick. Pinching or grabbing the stick is not allowed – it must rest on top of fingers.
Remind them that their task is to lower the hoop to the group, and should anyone’s finger lose contact with the hoop, they are to reset the hoop to the starting height and begin anew.
Begin and continue until the group either succeeds at the task or is ready to stop. Note the tendency for the hoop to rise as members strive to maintain contact with it.
Discussion Questions for Inquiry Note: It’s important for your group to maintain an attitude of curiosity while discussing its answers to these questions, and to avoid the natural tendency toward evaluation and judgment; err in the direction of being descriptive.
Level 1 Inquiry – General Review
How’d we do on this task?
What seemed to help us along?
What seemed to get in our way?
What skills did it take to be successful as a group?
What was the nature of our interdependence?
What creative solutions were suggested and how were they received?
Level 2 Inquiry – Personal and Interpersonal Characteristics
What roles did people play?
What did we each learn about ourselves?
What would an outside observer have seen as the strengths and weaknesses of our group?
What skills and competencies would we need to develop as a group if we wanted to become truly masterful at this task?
How might we develop those skills and competencies?
Level 3 Inquiry – Keeping the Whole System in Mind
How was appreciation for what worked in evidence?
When was it possible to give and receive feedback without it becoming charged with feelings of criticism or blame?
What behaviors might have indicated higher levels of “sensing together” – i.e. silence, deeper listening, intentional experimenting and reflecting on results, etc.
How was acting together different than acting alone?
